South Barn

Post script

noreply@blogger.com (The Hampson-Ghani Family) — Mon, 17 Sep 2007 19:01:00 +0000

Well we've been back now nearly 2 weeks and sadly the memory of our fantastic holiday is beginning to fade. It took about 4 days to get over the jet lag - we were waking up at 4.ooam and feeling very tired by tea time - but quite a bit longer to re-adjust to reality! School, work, and the lack of it in my case!

One thing we did do, being somewhat guilty about the amount of flying we've done, was to calculate our flying mileage and carbon emissions. We used the Carbon Footprint website to do it and it was quite a shock! In total we had 12 flights and covered just over 26,000 miles (41,900km) and we are thus personally responsible for about 9.5t of CO2 each. Ouch. But hey quite simple to wash away the guilt, as the ready-reckoner on the website offers you several easy ways to offset. From £68 for a re-forestation scheme in Kenya, to about £78 for a contribution to a clean energy fund. Sadly they can't tell me how many trees I should plant, or how many goats I should buy, either of which I'd quite like to do instead.

Finally a huge great big thank you to all the family and frioends we stayed with in Malaysia and Australia. Without you hospitality the holiday would have been a whole lot more expensive, and much less interesting!

Whoops! End of the holiday!

noreply@blogger.com (The Hampson-Ghani Family) — Tue, 04 Sep 2007 01:16:00 +0000

Keeping up to date has been harder than I thought it would be! It's now Tuesday 4th September and we are back in KL (at KLIA actually) with 5 hrs on our hands whilst we wait for MH004 to London Heathrow at the end of our holiday. The last entry was over 10 days ago and I was trying to catch up then. So there's nothing for it bu a very rapid resumé of what's happened in between (hurrah you say!)

Perth WA - 1oth-16th August

Visited the south western tip of Western Australia visiting the Cape Leuwin (where the southern and Indian oceans meet) and the Margaret River wine region. Saw amazing Karri forests around Pemberton as well as the Gloucester Tree over 60m tall - we climbed it. Went to Rottenest Island off Fremantle - saw Quokkas (Wiki it here) and dolphins. Met up with Marion's cousin Douglas and met his family (wife Bekky, and Rachael and Tom) in Boldivas.

Canberra ACT - 16th-20th August
Flew to the Australian capital on 10/8. It's a 4.5 hour flight and that's only the bottom half of the country. Met up with Paul Blessington and his family (Margaret and kids Richard and Louise). Best friends at school and not seen since our wedding back in 1989! Toured the city - quite unique and a bit odd really as a completely planned, built-from-scratch place back in the 1920's. Paul insisted I join him for his regular 5km race (yes RACE) with his running chums. It's OK for him but I haven't run for at least a couple of years. Still happy to play sweeper - no one was behind me! Knackered for the rest of the weekend. Lola went sailing with Richard on the Saturday - nothing is more than 5 mins cycle away - and we went to Louise's school to see a play. Highlight was a trip to the Snowy Mountains for a day's skiing on the Sunday. Went to the Mnt Perisher resort - and pretty good even by European standards. Tiring day! Saw loads of road kill (squished kangaroos) on the way back. Very common apparently!

Toronto NSW - 20th-27th August
Caught the (intercity) train (ha ha - not very fast at all!) from Canberra to Sydney, then a commuter double-decker to Toronto where we met up with Roz Skinner - a friend from our Twickenhan days (and the ski fit group). She has only just moved back to Oz after over 30yrs in the UK. Has a lovely house on the shores of Lake Macquarie. Visited Sydney - of course - where we did the following:

walked from the Spit Bridge to Manley Harbour (nice)
caught the Manley ferry back to Sydney Harbour (quintessential)
walked the city and darling harbour (very touristy)
climbed the harbour bridge (very expensive but an amazing experience - a must-do)
went to the Opera House and saw a dance production (awesome)
walked in the surf at Bondi Beach (dude)
sailed on Lake Macquarie on a 42' ex- Admiral's Cup racing yacht (so there). Trouble was there was no wind!

We had very pleasant stay and it was great again to catch up on an old friend!

Cairns Qld - 27th August-2nd September
Flew to Cairns in tropical northern Queensland and it felt like we were in another country! A 3hr flight and it's only halfway up the eastern side! Stayed in the YHA on the Saturday night (and experience!) and picked up our rather nice 4-berth motorhome from Britz on the Sunday. Drove up to Port Douglas then Cape Tribulation, exploring the beaches (extremely fab) and the rainforest along the way. Highlight was a boat trip to the Great Barrier Reef where we snorkeled at three different sites on the Outer Reef. Absolutely amazing and unforgettable! And jumping off the back of the boat some 40km off shore took some doing at first. But there it was - just like all the photos and Jacques Cousteau films you've ever seen. Right there in front of your goggles! Moved inland to the outback and the Atherton Tablelands, and explored that region (Mareeba, Dumbalah, Atherton) where we:

visited a coffee plantation (Skybury - you can buy it in Sainsbury's)
drove along a dirt track for 80km
watched the Atherton Maize Queen festival
visited the world's largest curtain fig tree
walked around a volcanic crater lake
drove the spectacular Gillies Highway

Back at Cairns YHA for our last night. Tip: go the food court in the night market and wait till after 8.30pm when all the stalls reduce the menus to $5!

Brisbane Qld - 2nd-3rd September

Sunday was our 18th wedding anniversary and also a very early start to catch the 6.00am flight from Cairns to Brisbane (PS it was also Father's Day in Australia but my family wouldn't let me celebrate it). But these regional airports do have something going for them - proximity and simplicity! Bed to push-back in less than an hour! Arrived in a sunny Brisbane to meet up with my cousin Aedah who has lived in Brisbane for the last 7 years. Went to North Stradbroke Island in Moreton Bay and picnicked on the beach. Another fantastic place and yet again we had it all to ourselves! Just as the ads in the UK say "where the bl**dy hell are yer?" Moreton Bay is quite a special place for wildlife as it's where the cool-ish South Pacific Ocean meets the warmer Coral sea. So right on cue we saw Humpback whales and dolphins. The former in at least two pods, and they were fin slapping and breaching. And we had a grandstand view from the beach. The breaching is quite stunning to watch as theses magnificent creatures launch themselves out of the sea and crash back with explosive force. The dolphins were also amazing to watch, apparently just plying in the surf and riding the waves. Quite amazing for us Brits, but probably an everyday thing for the locals. There were also Dugong herds in the bay, but we didn't see them. However we had a treat on the drive back to see swarms (the sky was black with them) of very large bats feasting on the evening bugs. In fact they may have even been Flying Foxes. Monday 3rd and we explored the city of Brisbane. A weird sort of city - not at all planned with old bits and swanky new bits side by side, but with its fair share of gleaming business towers and apartments, massive malls, old colonial buildings, and a fabulous city park on the South Bank, complete with a city beach.

In the evening we have a farewell dinner with Aedah at the Breakfast Creek Hotel, one of Brisbane's most popular watering holes. Then it was off to catch the midnight MAS flight to KL....

That's it...

Tuesday 4th September - here I am whiling away another hour at a free internet station catching up. I will edit the text and throw in more photos when I get back to UK later today.

Cheers!!

More catching up!

noreply@blogger.com (The Hampson-Ghani Family) — Thu, 23 Aug 2007 22:54:00 +0000

Hello happy readers! I hope you are still with us. If not or you have just joined, this is the Hampson-Ghani family blog of our holiday in Malaysia and Australia. Today it is Friday 24th August and we've been away for 29 days! I guess in the UK you are all getting ready for another Bank Holiday weekend. Is the weather still awful? In fact it's no so great here in New South Wales, but at least it is their winter!

Anyway, it's catch up time again . Lola's last post was from Canberra, but we hadn't filled you in on Perth, and now we are in NSW visiting Sydney! Or as Lola would say, more of the boring stuff...

Back to Sabah.....

Thursday 9th August: went on an island hopping trip to Gaya, Sapi, and Mandukan off KK. Did and very interesting jungle walk on Mandukan and saw bats, lizards, hornbills and even some monkeys! And go a close up of a mangrove swamp. Apparently these are the only Tsunami-resistant coastal defences... On Mandukan we went snorkelling around the coral just off the fabulous beaches. I got sunburnt as I forgot to cream up my back!

Friday 10th - Off to Perth

Left at the crack of dawn - in fact before dawn, so we missed the huge hotel buffet breakfast! - to fly back to KL and then pick up a B777 flight to Perth. Arrived there just after 4.00pm and a total of 8hrs flying. The weather was so bad we couldn't see the ground until we actually touched down! This is their winter! Met Dave Phillips (friend from Heysham days, and chauffeur at our wedding) at the airport as he had just flown in himself from Mumbai. Haven't seen him for over 15 years! His family (Christine and kids Iona 16, Douglas 17 and Callum 19) live in a huge house in a swanky suburb of Perth. Spend the evening catching up on friends, events, jobs etc!

.....Next update: meet Lawrence!

Australia

noreply@blogger.com (The Hampson-Ghani Family) — Sat, 18 Aug 2007 07:22:00 +0000

Hhey this is Lola and I am reporting from Canberra (capital city of Australia). Okay I Will skip the boring stuff like traveling and I will tell you about yesterday and today. Ok yesterday I went down town to Starbucks with the children of the people that we are staying with and we met some exchange people from Sweden,Italy etc. And had a good time talking and eating cake!
OK last night we watched half of a movie called Anger Management (trash American comedy!)
Today me and my mum and dad went to the Parliament House and saw the senate and had a tour around the building. This afternoon me and their son went sailing in the near by lake with some old men which was fun and then we went to a cafe.
good bye.

Sabah

noreply@blogger.com (The Hampson-Ghani Family) — Thu, 09 Aug 2007 10:17:00 +0000

Flew into Kota Kinabalu on Saturday morning, and checked in at the Sutera Harbour Resort Hotel. This is a truly fabulous 5-star hotel! We somehow have a 3 room suite and have blagged it at a ridiculous rate compared to the full price. The website gives you an idea of the sorts of facilities it has. On top of that the staff are so friendly and helpful it it just a joy! And they are all locals (OK Dave, wake up, it's not the real world!) Everything is just so perfect, and nothing is too much trouble to sort out or fix. Oh and it's big- almost 1,000 rooms!

The first night we go out to town on the free shuttle bus, and head for the famous Sedco Seafood court. A chaos of competing foodstands all with live seafood on display in huge tanks. Just point and they cook it there and then. And there's a free cultural show thrown in too!

Next day we try to book all the must-do Borneo things, but find that everyone got there first, so a climb up Mount Kinabalu (4,095m) is out of the question. So too is a trip to Sepilok, the world famous Orang Utan rehabilitation centre. This is a DISASTER! Thus is what we came here for! All the tour companies tell us that their trips are full (Korean holidays), so the only way to do it is on our own. So we get down to some serious brochure trawling!

Word of advice: if you plan to come to Sabah to do these things, definitely book them up in advance.

Sunday

The Gaya Street Sunday Market. Another mad frenetic shopping experience. Everything from Papaya to puppies, Batik to fake Bvlgari watches. Too hot for us! Head back to the hotel and take a trip out to Manukan Island for some kayaking. Fantastic sunsets! Book white water rafting for Monday.

Monday

Trip to the Padas river for a grade III-IV experience! half the journey is by train on the North Borneo Railway, built by the British. Hot and sweaty 2hr trip with the locals up river to the base camp. Great rafting down the muddy river (the guide says just add sugar if you want a cup of coffee). Get back to the hotel pretty exhausted. Still no luck with Sepilok...

Tuesday

Early trip into town to try a few travel agents face to face. Still no luck with the tour companies, so decide to fly to Sandakan and just do it by taxi. No time to book a flight, need to go the the airport and check in now! Pick up Marion and Lola at the hotel and off to terminal 2 at KKIA for an Air Asia leaving in just 2 hours. Fly past Mt. Kinabalu on the way (really close!) so we get to see it after all! Short taxi ride to Sepilok and we do at last make it to see the orang utangs. The jungle walk is incredibly hot and we are drenched! We spend about an hour and a half by the feeding platform just captivated and spellbound by these lovely creatures. hard to tear ourselves away, but a truly memorable experience (photos to follow). Go back to Sandakan for a look round Sabah's second city, but this is quite a disappointment afer KK - very dirty and not very interesting, and searingly hot. Nothing really to do except eat and drink - even the waterfront walk is a bit sad! Catch the 9.00pm flight back to KK and we are back at the hotel by 10.00pm!

That's all for now - no more tokens left! Off to Perth tomorrow (Saturday 10th). Strewth mate!

Across the water in Sabah

noreply@blogger.com (The Hampson-Ghani Family) — Wed, 08 Aug 2007 10:09:00 +0000

Hi folks! Sorry for the interruption in posts, but we haven't been near a pc since last Thursday and I still haven't been able to connect my phone to the GPRS/Edge network even though DiGi says I've got access. Anyway, we have a bit of catching up to do! I'm writing this in a internet cafe in the Centre Point shopping complex in steamy Kota Kinabalu, the capital of the Malaysian state of Sabah on the island of Borneo. We've got to get a move on as Marion is in the handicraft market and we said we'd meet up on the waterfront at 6.30pm and that's in 15mins time! The sunsets here are dreamy! No time for photo uploads today, but we've got loads to show you at some point!

Last few days in KL

OK, after the Batu caves, we went to the amazing government new town of Putrajaya. Basically it's like a whole new city created out of nothing just for the government offices and departments. A bit like Whitehall meets Milton Keynes, only with 95% humidity and 30C all year round! There's the Kings residence, the Prime Minister's house and office (we are definitely not talking No. 10 here!) as well as a massive mosque, a huge lake, and of course all those amazing buildings just for the department of this and that. And it's only a small country. And to support all of this, they've built a new city alongside called Cyberjaya - I'm not kidding! As it is out of the city there are no traffic jams so the civil servants can all get to work on time!

Friday going away party!

On Friday evening we all met up at a swanky floating restaurant on lake Titiwangsa in the middle of KL for a farewell dinner. It's a sort of thank you to our relatives for hosting our stay. Then it's early to bed as we have a 7.00am taxi to take us to KLIA for the flight to Kota Kinabalu.

In the jungle..

noreply@blogger.com (The Hampson-Ghani Family) — Fri, 03 Aug 2007 03:42:00 +0000

On Wednesday 1st August we explored the depths of a man made jungle just 16km north west of KL city centre! At FRIM (Forest Research Institute of Malaysia) there is a 600 Ha reserve of "natural" tropical jungle - I say natural because in fact it was created by the British in the 1920's! They call it forest, I'd call it jungle. It felt like we were in the jungle anyway. Steaming hot and alive with sounds and awash with smells! There was also a canopy walkway in the tree tops which was pretty amazing. Here are some photos:

After FRIM we went on to the Batu Caves, part of a spectacular limestone outcrop in which there are numerous caves. That largest is of cathedral proportions -it is absolutely massive! This cave is now a Hindu Temple and there are various religious festivals throughout the year. It is a typically gaudy place and somewhat dirty, but you have to see it! It's a hearty climb up the 272 steps to the top (and the geometry of the stairs is very odd for western feet) and on the way you have to avoid the dozens of monkeys scouting for food!

Family reunion

noreply@blogger.com (The Hampson-Ghani Family) — Wed, 01 Aug 2007 10:03:00 +0000

Unlock your phone in 47 easy steps!

Have you ever done this? I thought I'sd sorted this out in the UK before I left. I paid 6GPB for a small bit of software to run on my phone which will liberate me from the Orange network. Well it didn't work - or at least the code it asked for wasn't right when I put the new Digi pre-paid card in. So I search the web and find a free utility which I need to download to my phone and run it to re-flash some new firmware blah blah blah... It all takes a couple of days but finally on Monday I'm fully unlocked. Still can't hook up to the GPRS data network so can't post directly from the phone. Still it's dirt cheap and apparently works in Oz so won't need to go through that rigmarole again! Anyway, my new number is 014-639 6103[Malaysia].

Party time!

The rellies have set us up for a big party on Saturday night at Lis's house. Apparently everyone is coming! And they do. Lis and Azlee have a fantasic house in PJ just 5 mins from Aunty Hafsah's. It is all very modern and feng shui, with a fish pool moat, and lovely hardwood floors and ceilings. And lots of fans so there is always a cooling breeze! Well veryone does turn up and I can't even remember all their names! There must be at least 50 people there! Aunties, uncles, and of course dozens of cousins! They all remember us and proceed to tell embarassing stories to Lola - who seem quite surprised! And of course there is the food. Everyone brings something so we are not going to go hungry! And they keep arriving, and brining more food! There's Ismail from Muar, Ahmed and Rafia - both quite elderly now - from just around the corner, and Malik and Zee from Shah Alam, with their 3 boys. Blimely they've grown! the last time they were little lads constantly on the go and biffing each other. And there's Ema with 3 of her 4 daughters. I swap business cards with the eldest two - Wani who is 23 is Sales development manager for Nestlé, and Fiz who is a manager with a venture capital company. Then there's Munirah, Noli's daughter. She is also 23 and she works at Deloittes.... And there's more food to finish! The elders tuck into freshly harvested Durian - the so called King of Fruits and definitely the smelliest! I brave a small bite and it's not that bad, but it does have a wierd creamy texture, like custard! Meet up with my cousin Azman who works at the Forestry Research Institute and we agree to go there on Wednesday fro a trip through the jungle!

First weekend in KL

noreply@blogger.com (The Hampson-Ghani Family) — Wed, 01 Aug 2007 09:28:00 +0000

Geeting the hang of things now. It always takes a few days in a new place to get your bearings. But once you know where north is, the price of fuel, and the cost of a simple meal you know where you are! Most of my early pictures are on my now out-of-date Fuji FinePix camera on a SmartMedia card, the sort they don't make any more. When I find a suitable card reader I'll upload some.

On Friday, after a few hours sleep we have a quick lunch - roti cenai of course - and head off to the driverless LRT (see picture on previous post) to get into the city. It's a brilliant light rail transit system (click here for info) even though the locals prefer their car.

Get off at the Twin Towers - that's the Petronas Towers - and find out out that the free tickets to the viewing bridge at the 41st floor are all gone. So what do you do in KL if there's nothing else to do? Go shopping of course. Suria KLCC is an amazing place (cheesy website here) but it's only one of many... Nice gardens and park to chill out in (but as it's KL make that heat up in). A couple of hours here gawping at Jimmy Choos, Bvlgari, Louis Vuitton, Prada, and Versace is a bit tiring! So we head off to the other end of the scale and the slightly scabby Central Market. More realistic and authentic and you can even barter, but at 7RM=1GBP it's not really worth it! Grab a bite to eat at the food court and blow my head off with the hottest Tom Yum soup I've ever had. Head becomes a shower! On the way back buy a phone card so now I can have a local number. 014-6396103 if you want to give me a call!

After a bit of a restless and still jet lagged night, we go to Sunway Park Lagoon. Taxi only 5RM = 70p! This is an amazing place built in a former tin mine lagoon some 50m below ground level. There is off course the obligatory mega shopping complex and everything is themed on the Egyptian style with the main hall a giant pyramid (obviously). The park also has the world's largest man made surfing wave machine which generates 2m high waves. Luckily for us it is not that busy so we get thoroughly wet all afternoon. Lola is a bit self concsious as she thinks she is the only white person there. Meanwhile marion is in her bikini...... Ooer! And there are lots of women in burkhas and hijabs and head scaves.

Catching up...

noreply@blogger.com (The Hampson-Ghani Family) — Tue, 31 Jul 2007 03:17:00 +0000

Hi folks - sorry for the interruption in service! Had difficulty posting from the phone and I didn't want a huge bill from Orange when we get back. OK it is now Tuesday 31st July and I realise there is some catching up to do, and that just reading plain text when you are in a very photogenic place can be very testing for readers when you know there should be some photos to show. Well I have switched my phone to a Malaysian number (more on "Fun with unlocking your phone" later), and I have a new camera (2 tasks to tick off my list) so the posts should cme more regularly now. Today I a writing this at the home of my cousin Lis so hve the luxuary of a broadband connection and a full sized keyboard, so no excuses!

The Flight and Arrival

Pretty good really considering you're in the same place for 12hrs! Loads of movies and music to choose from. Food and drink whenever you want it. Great thunderstorm over Afghanistan in the night! Touchdown at KLIA at 0745 in monsoon conditions, so just like the UK really - except nothing prepares you for the 95% humidity! It's like being inside a steam iron (so they tell me). KLIA is a really beautiful and calm airport which just hightlights the 3rd world status of Heathrow! Pick up a "premier" taxi to Petaling Jaya and the Shah Village Hotel. Really friendly and knowlegdeable taxi driver.

Ambush and Hijack!

We get to the hotel and are just about to check in when there is a shreik of welcome from the lounge! It's my Auntie Hafsah and her husband Ramli. They tell us the Hotel doesn't have our booking so why don't we go back to their place instead? Too tired and pleased to see them at the same time, we agree. A short drive later and we are at 29 SS3/41 in Petaling Jaya. Hijack completed! A rapid catchup on family and events over the past 9 years then we make our excuses nad go for a quick nap as the jet lag is catching up on us. We crash out pretty quickly in the sticky heat.

Beyond security...

noreply@blogger.com (The Hampson-Ghani Family) — Sat, 28 Jul 2007 07:48:00 +0000

OK I get it now. Heathrow is all about queuing. After the check in, you queue to get to the gate where they let you queue to show someone your boarding card. He then lets you queue up for the booth where they look at your passport - oh and they look at your boarding card too. Then you join the back of the queue for the security search. Yes they look at your boarding card too. Then after the security control, just when you think you're there, there's another queue for the shoe search. That bloke Richard Greene the shoe bomber has got a lot to answer for.

So you've made it past all that queuing and you get to the heaving mass of travelling humanity that is the retail area. At least there are plenty of different queues to choose from.

It's 11.30, two hours after we got to Heathrow and we've travelled about 100m. Flight MH003 is called to gate 14. Doesn't sound that far but in fact its miles down long travelator corridors vintage 1980 by the looks of the corrosion on the steelwork and the nice swirly BAA carpets.

We get to gate 11 and we join the back of, yes you guessed it, another long queue to gate 14. Its 12.00 and we should have left by now. Someone checks our boarding card, then finally the gate person tears it in half. Bad news no sign of the plane. Or is that it on the other side of the airport by terminal 5? Have we come to the right place after all?

Yes. Get on the bus! Its quite way by bus. Underneath the gate lounges and past all the grotty portacabins for the temporary baggage handler - we get a sneaky glimpse of the baggage handling factory, not a pretty sight - and then its under the runways via the airside tunnel to T5, round past the cargo area and the VIP zone, then there she is - MH330 all 75m of her B747-400.

Up the steps and a very pretty cabin crew lady looks at our boarding cards (she can look again if she wants). Row 40 on the right. Phew! Its 12.20 and we're strapped in. "hello ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, this is first officer Hanif", oh dear this sounds like bad news, "because Heathrow is so congested", tell me about it, "there aren't enough stands with airbridges, so all the airlines have to take it in turns to use the remote stands...." which all means we are going to be late.

Indeed we push back at 12.45 and are airborne at 13.15. So now just another 12hrs with Malaysian Airlines to look forward to. Still it looks promising. We all have seat back TVs and movies on demand, and the cabin crew are definitely ahead in cute department compared to most other airlines we've travelled with - OK compared to every airline we've travelled with......
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At the airport.....

noreply@blogger.com (The Hampson-Ghani Family) — Thu, 26 Jul 2007 09:08:00 +0000

Here we are at LHR a bit later than planned. M25 not too bad for the rush hour at 8.00 in the morning. Check in queue only abouy 100m long. Everyone a bit frazzled and stressed, especially me. My dad drove us to terminal 3 in my car and I was a bag of nerves and very tetchy! He keeps it in 1st then when he gets to 3rd stalls it at the lights. And a VW passat is not the easiest car to drive! Then we get a huge bag of chocolates to take as presents! But at least he drove us there so we are very grateful for that. Lets hope we're still under the 20kg limit. Nearly there now so next installment after security. Deep joy!

Davei

David Hampson-Ghani
(mobile email)

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Email update

noreply@blogger.com (The Hampson-Ghani Family) — Wed, 25 Jul 2007 12:17:00 +0000

OK here we are less than 24hrs from departure and I still haven’t packed! Marion’s had a packing crisis for the last 3 weeks whereas me, It’ll last about 10 minutes when I get on to it. It’s Lola’s last day at school today and I’m on school run duty. She’ll have to pack this afternoon. Too late now for any shopping expeditions.

I finished work yesterday at St Pancras but didn’t get it all done – I left the office at 9.00pm and have been finishing off all morning! Luckily they let me keep my email and remote log in for another 24hrs. Miss the place already! Only regret was that I didn’t get chance to say goodbye to everyone – great bunch of people working to impossible deadlines! Look forward to it all opening in November.

OK back to the packing!

Dave

Home help and boss

noreply@blogger.com (The Hampson-Ghani Family) — Sat, 14 Jul 2007 21:21:00 +0000

This is Marion. Originally from Rochdale, has learnt to shake off her northern roots and is now fully southernised. Happily still has that short "a" vowel in "bath" and "grass". Likes a bargain (who doesn't?) and has a keen sense of character analysis. Fascinated by old relics and structures (like the old man). Erstwhile school governor and parish councillor, now enjoys the local book group, gardening club, and the daftness of rural English village life! Cool cat.

In Rome

noreply@blogger.com (The Hampson-Ghani Family) — Sat, 14 Jul 2007 19:40:00 +0000

Marion & Lola on the Castell del Angelo in Rome at the beginning of June. St Peter's Basillica in the background. What an amazing place! You can't help falling over history and culture at every turn. That at tourists!

Meet the family.....

noreply@blogger.com (The Hampson-Ghani Family) — Sat, 14 Jul 2007 10:30:00 +0000

This is Lola on her 14th birthday. She had a makeover party with some friends and they loved it! But hey, that's what girls like. Not my scene, but then I'm the boring old dad.

As you can see the weather in the UK back in April was fantastic. Here we are in July and it is pretty awful. All the seasons are messed up this year. Is it global warming? Is it El Nina? Or is is just the random cycle of things?

Hi Folks!

noreply@blogger.com (The Hampson-Ghani Family) — Thu, 12 Jul 2007 21:53:00 +0000

This is our first post! We are setting up this blog so that we can keep a diary of our big summer holiday to Malaysia, Borneo (Sabah) and Australia. It will be a way for us to post updates of our adventures for friends and relatives back home, and keep an e-journal of our trip. Hopefully it won't be too boring! And if nobody reads it at least it will be our record. So here we are less than 2 weeks to go and I've just set up and created my first blog! Have to work out how to link it to the Chillenden web site as that's where we'll publish it. Let's see how that goes. Cheers!